OLYMPICS: Ireland men suffer agonising loss to India

Ireland's goalkeeper David Harte concedes a goal against India

Alex Sherwood

Published:18:09Saturday 06 August 2016

IRELAND 2 INDIA 3

India’s greater set piece accuracy gave Ireland a harsh lesson in their first Olympic hockey match for 108 years as three penalty corner goals to two told the tale in Deodoro on Saturday in intense heat.

For head coach Craig Fulton, he put it down to “accuracy” as Ireland matched and outdid the eight-time Olympic champions for many periods in the opening Group B match.

“We just didn’t take our chances today,” he said after the tie. “It ebbed and flowed for three quarters and we finished strong in the last quarter after John Jermyn’s goal. We were playing well and had a good few chances but were just not accurate enough.

“As a team, we normally pride ourselves on that accuracy and today it didn’t fire for us. All of our flickers are good and you can see that the shots were on, we just missed the target.”

It was a bright and breezy tie from the outset with John Jackson working an early overload while Nikkin Thimmaiah’s breathtaking turn of speed drew a top stop from David Harte on the baseline.

Peter Caruth and Eugene Magee both fizzed first half efforts over the bar from circle entries but India took the lead on the quarter-time hooter after a string of back-to-back penalty corners.

Ronan Gormley cleared one scuffed effort off the line but a follow-up effort from VR Raghunath broke the deadlock.

Ireland had a leveller chalked off from Jermyn’s switch-move, umpire Paco Vazquez deeming the dummy that delivered the ball to the flicker to have been illegal. Conor Harte dragged another corner shot wide.

India, meanwhile, were more efficient, Rupinder Pal Singh scoring from their second set of corners, hitting the top corner for 2-0 at half-time. Fulton’s side kept creating chances with O’Donoghue firing over before Jermyn found the backboard with his 91st international goal, a low bullet.

It set up an epic final 15 minutes; Rupinder Pal Singh restored the two-goal wedge with a drag that popped off John Jackson’s knee at a vicious speed.

Conor Harte pulled one back with five minutes left when he beat a man off a corner spin-move and then volleying home when the second tackle popped up chest-high.

Ireland were hunting in packs at this stage, hungry for the equaliser. It almost came from a sixth Irish corner but O’Donoghue’s flick went inches past the right post.

Reflecting further on the result, Fulton says it is just those final details the side need to rectify as the fixtures go on this week.

“You have got to be a realist; it’s not like you are playing in a club match. There’s a lot at stake but we’ll be back. Looking behind the result, I see some really good things but it came down to set pieces.

“Tomorrow, we are fully focussed on the Netherlands and getting a result from that. For now, less is more in terms of training and I think we are in an ok place.”

Ireland play the world number two ranked Dutch at 10pm GNT (5pm in Brazil) on Sunday. The Dutch opened their account with a 3-3 draw against Argentina.